Is it really worth it though? I often hear how the stock heatsinks are rather bad, and how good it is to replace them. Problem is I then see a review like this: http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2132Presumably that's the same or similar to the one I have (even though it's dual-core, not quad like mine, it looks the same).

What's more is that it scored VERY high on this chart. So what am I supposed to think - is the Akasa heatsink really worth getting over the stock heatsink?

The typical budget priced alternative to the stock Intel cooler is probably the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro available from sources such as this one on Amazon for around £16 including delivery. For around £5 more than the Akasa it should give you better cooling performance at lower sound levels.

An alternative to the Akasa: The Arctic Cooling Alpine 11. Very small and very cheap. Though it will be quiet during idle and low loads, it will probably be noisy at high loads: The AC Freezer proposed by Lodestar would fit your needs.

I don't see the Akasa you linked as much different to the stock cooler...

You might also consider Cooler Master Hyper TX3 and Arctic Cooling Freezer 13. Both are reasonably priced (~£20) 92mm fan tower heatsinks. I've used both and they are easy enough to fit and not overly large and good bang-for-buck performers. The TX3 is cheaper and slightly less capable and a bit louder in stock form. It's also easier to fit on stock push pins than the Freezer 13 that has a frame fitted on push pins and then screws to it. The Freezer 13 stock fan is good with 500 to 2000rpm range on it. The TX3 fan is more 800 to 2800 (IIRC) range and a bit less smooth, but sometimes very cheap, eg "scan todayonly"

Either will be nicer at idle than the stock Intel cooler that is horribly "buzzy" and far quieter under heavy load.

Thanks guys. Those all seem like good fans, but I was hoping there would be a review of the stock 6600 quadcore fan due to it being very common, and how it can be used as a 'baseline' to see how aftermarket fans compare (so users can see whether it's worth upgrading).

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